Comparison

PCalc Lite vs A Complex Calc

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

PCalc Lite

This free scientific calculator offers essential features like RPN mode, unit conversions, and multiple undo/redo. It provides a taste of a more powerful version, with optional in-app purchases for expanded functionality.

Highlights
  • Optional RPN mode
  • Multiple undo and redo
  • Unit conversions and constants
  • Two stylish themes
  • Apple Watch app
Features
Read full description

PCalc is the powerful choice for scientists, engineers, students, programmers, or indeed anybody looking for a feature rich calculator. It includes an optional RPN mode and multi-line display, a choice of button layouts, an extensive set of unit conversions and constants, a paper tape, multiple undo and redo, engineering and scientific notation, as well as support for hexadecimal, octal, and binary calculations.PCalc Lite is a fully functional and free taste of our very popular scientific calculator. It includes an optional RPN mode, multiple undo and redo, unit conversions and constants, as well as two stylish themes and our highly praised design. A great choice for your new iPad! If you like what you see, the full version has many more settings and themes, a paper tape, engineering and scientific notation, and full support for hexadecimal, octal, and binary calculations. You can also now purchase extra features directly from inside PCalc Lite. Buy them individually, or buy everything. Includes an Apple Watch app, so you can calculate on your wrist!

About

A Complex Calc

Perform complex calculations with a modern, user-friendly interface. Offers both basic and scientific modes, including support for complex numbers and advanced functions. This lightweight application provides a history of computations and is completely free with no advertisements.

Highlights
  • Complex number support
  • Basic and Scientific modes
  • History of operations
  • Trigonometric and hyperbolic functions
  • Random number generation
  • Lightweight app size
Features
Read full description

Work with complex numbers, scientific functions and unit conversions on your iPhone. A Complex Calc keeps your expression, result and next step together. EDIT WITHOUT STARTING OVER Place the cursor where you need a correction, reopen your latest submitted expression, or edit History entries that retain their original input. Paste supported expressions and review them before calculating. Undo and redo recent input changes during your current session. USE SCIENTIFIC TOOLS IN PORTRAIT Choose Basic or Scientific without rotating your phone. Keep trigonometric functions, logarithms, powers and constants close, with degree and radian controls. CONVERT UNITS ON THE SAME SCREEN Convert length, area, volume, mass, temperature, speed, energy, power, pressure, time, angles and electrical quantities. Swap compatible units, copy a converted value, and return to your calculator session. KEEP AND SHARE USEFUL WORK Mark History entries as favorites and filter them for quick access. Share a completed or saved calculation as text or a PNG image, with its recorded expression and result. SEE COMPLEX RESULTS CLEARLY Compare rectangular and polar forms, inspect the complex-plane diagram, and copy either representation. Clearer error guidance helps you correct an expression, while automatic scientific notation keeps small nonzero results visible. Requires iOS 18 or later.

Screenshots

PCalc Lite4 screens
A Complex Calc4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: A Complex Calc at none against PCalc Lite's 10. A Complex Calc also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.4) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). PCalc Lite's advantage is ratings volume (214 vs 25) and device support (4 vs 1). On price, review sentiment and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. PCalc Lite sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. A Complex Calc asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

A Complex Calc holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PCalc Lite has 214 ratings behind it against 25, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 82% of PCalc Lite's written reviews are positive against 80% of A Complex Calc's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PCalc Lite ships an update every 2 months, A Complex Calc every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
PCalc Lite versus A Complex Calc: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPCalc LiteA Complex Calc
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (214 ratings)4.7 (25 ratings) — better
Positive reviews82.5% of reviews — better80.0% of reviews
Number of ratings214 — better25
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size79 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTLA Systems Ltd.Antonio Ruffolo

Customer experience

PCalc Lite

All ratings214 ratings
Positive83.6%
Neutral6.5%
Negative9.8%
Written reviews530 reviews
Positive82.5%
Neutral7.0%
Negative10.6%

A Complex Calc

All ratings25 ratings
Positive92.0%
Neutral4.0%
Negative4.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

PCalc Lite

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Calculations sometimes produce unexpected results
  • Upside-down text censorship feature is problematic
  • Purchased features not always accessible on Apple Watch

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add option to display thousands separators
  • Implement a history function to review past calculations
  • Provide more customization options for the widget
  • Add support for sexagesimal angle input and conversion

A Complex Calc

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

PCalc Lite

One-time10
  • Theme Pack$0.99
  • Power User Pack$0.99
  • Multiple Line Pack$0.99
Show 7 more
  • Conversion Pack$0.99
  • Small Tip$0.99
  • Medium Tip$1.99
  • Programmer Pack$2.99
  • Engineer Pack$2.99
  • Large Tip$4.99
  • Complete Pack$9.99
None

A Complex Calc

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PCalc Lite free?
PCalc Lite is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is A Complex Calc free?
A Complex Calc is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, PCalc Lite or A Complex Calc?
A Complex Calc is rated higher. PCalc Lite averages 4.4 out of 5 from 214 ratings, while A Complex Calc averages 4.7 from 25 ratings.
Do PCalc Lite or A Complex Calc have ads?
Neither PCalc Lite nor A Complex Calc shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PCalc Lite or A Complex Calc?
PCalc Lite ships an update every 2 months, and A Complex Calc every 3 weeks. Most recently, PCalc Lite was updated on October 31, 2026 and A Complex Calc on November 13, 2026.

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